Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1887-10-14
BURNED TO POWDER.
EXTENT OF THE CHICAGO AND ATLANTIC
HORROR--THR TRUTH COMING OUT.
At Least Sixteen Persons Crsmatsd in the Burning Oar
-OOrOnsr on The Scsns-Frs: Reports Cor
ObOratsd by Bye WineSSss-A
WhiswsShmg Verdict

CHICAGO, October 13.-Special dispatches
to the Chicago papers to-day, as to the ex-
tent of the Chicago and Atlantic horror,
confirm the Associated Press report direct
from Kouts the day of the disaster.
The Inter- Ocean has particularly siguii-
can't interview with DR.. c. H. Mcclure, OF
Boon Grove, who with DIR. Mckee, Of
Kouts, was active in attending the suffer
ers at the wreck, in which he says.
'Those remains which were recovered
are of persons who were sitting on the
seats near windows, and fell outwards
when the charred frame work fell to pieces,
but those who were sitting inside and
whose remains fell OH the rails were burned
to powder, and not vestige of them, ex-
cept perhaps few pieces Of bone, would
be found. The heat between these rails
was sufficient to have calcined aud destroy
ed all the remains. In such heat, when
the charred mass cooled it would go to
powder by embers falling on it, and moth
| ing would be known of them.
AZ was told by one of the wreckers that
he saw little heaps of bones, and this was
corroborated by the statements of others,
and doubtlessly that was all that remained
of those who fell between the tracks, for
when heat is sufficient to make the rails
underneath red hot, and to warp and bend
them in every conceivable shape, 1t Is al
| most intense as IN a Crematory.
| DR.. Mcclure states the number burned
to death as "at least sixteen or eighteen"
Of the wounded he speaks definitely, and
! his total
| IS EVEN HIGHER
than the press estimate. Dr. Mcclure says:
AT Miller's Hotel in KOuts, after the ac-
cident, there were seven ladies and ten
men, making seventeen in all. got the
name and address OF lady mentioned IN
the press report as having done the most
heroic work at the wreck, helping others to
escape. Here it is: Mrs. John Wensin-
ger, Carey, Wyandotte county, Ohio"
J. A. Frederick, who lives at Kouts ani
failed to get aboard tn train at Hammond,
said he kuew there were over fifty pas
sengers aboard the train when it left Ham
mond.
The Daily Ne1rs has special from Wa
bash, saving: "Lsw Thorn, well-known
| travelling man, interviewed the porter Of
the rear Pullman car On the train wrecked
at KOuts The porter stated that the
tickets in the possession of the conductor
showed that nineteen passengers are miss
ing. The porter himself counted fifteen
bodies, all burned to crisp"
A special from Valparaiso, Ind, says:
The coroner, Dr. A. Leatherman, was
seen last evening after his return from the
inquest of the Kouts victims. In refer
oring to conceal the
EXTENT OF THE DISASTER,
he said: They are not worth attention.
suppose the writer was angry because |
would not give him verdict which | have
not vet rendered. l have not rendered
verdict exonerating the officers and en-
ployes of the road; positively not. | will
not give my verdict until tomorrow or
perhaps later-when / have thoroughly
examined the evidence of all the witnesses
taken at Kouts and Huntington, which
nave reduced 10 WTlIlOR
"The statement that am completely in
the hands of the railroad officials and that
my verdict must necessarily he pro-rail-
road one, is positively false. The railroad
officials rendered me every assistance pos
sible in my Investigations, and, instead Of
being in their hands they were everywhere
subject to my commands. have no fault
TO find with the officials in my investiga-
tions, but quite the contrary"
In regard to the jury law of Indiana he
said: 'The Coroners' iuries have long
since been abolished. The Coroner has the
sole power to investigate and render a YER
dict"
"Do you still maintain that there were
only nine bodies consumed?' continued the
reporter.
"Yes, / am positive of that, and the con-
ductor's checks, which were examined in
nv presence, at Huntington,
CONFIRM MY FIRST DECISION.
There were on the train when the accident
occurred twenty-five or twenty-slx, as far
as have been able to ascertain, and be-
lieve this correct
do you not think it was criminal reck-
! lessneSs to run passenger train with a
disabled engine followed so closely by fast
, freight"
II am not prepared to sayas to that but
think it is a common practice with en-
; gineers to complete their runs when dis
abled as was the passenger engine in this
instance"
Can you, then, blame no one in partic-
ular for the horror and think that the dense
fog prevailing at the time was the real
cause of the accident"
Yes"
This concluded the interview, but from
a general conversation afterwards with the
Coroner it could be inferred that this ver-
dict would not hold either the trainmen